Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 71,810 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 717,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,810 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.25% of Ecolab worth $170,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 626,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,195,000 after purchasing an additional 16,922 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 27,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,525,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $365,420,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $250.54 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.54. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $243.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.